Covid-19 deaths: Which governments have failed?

Posted by in Economics, Health, Politics

The latest worldwide average death rate per one million people is 31, up from 26 a week ago. Figures are from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control situation report to Saturday 2nd May. Here’s the updated list of countries with death rates more than twice that average:

Territory/Area Country Deaths per million
Europe San Marino 1208
Europe Belgium 665
Europe Andorra 557
Europe Spain 531
Europe Italy 467
Europe The United Kingdom 405
Europe France 377
Americas Sint Maarten 303
Europe Netherlands 286
Europe Sweden 263
Europe Isle of Man 259
Europe Ireland 256
Americas Montserrat 200
Americas United States of America 197
Europe Switzerland 166
Europe Luxembourg 147
Europe Gibraltar 119
Europe Monaco 102
Europe Portugal 99
Americas Bermuda 96
Americas Canada 90
Europe Denmark 79
Europe Germany 78
Eastern Mediterranean Iran 73
Europe Austria 65

Death rates are the best measures of a national government’s effectiveness, because in many countries with poor pandemic management, the total number of cases is under-reported.

From these results, it is clear that many nations which put business ahead of evidence-based health advice have higher death rates. Some nations with lower death rates have also benefited from being able to learn from nations hit earlier, or due to low tourism numbers from China. Others had established pandemic testing expertise and/or social isolation cultures for influenza, and possibly better immune profiles yet to be understood.

Many countries still at an early stage of this crisis. These results will be revised each weekend, or you can view a chart and add your own selection of countries at this link: Ourworldindata.org

Under-reported of deaths in the UK are now being revised, but many other nations will never report accurate totals. Citizens there can only get an indication of trend (view the charts for your country at the link above), but must judge the true scale of deaths from community and hospital experience.

Full table for all countries below.

Territory/Area Country Deaths per million
Europe San Marino 1208
Europe Belgium 665
Europe Andorra 557
Europe Spain 531
Europe Italy 467
Europe The United Kingdom 405
Europe France 377
Americas Sint Maarten 303
Europe Netherlands 286
Europe Sweden 263
Europe Isle of Man 259
Europe Ireland 256
Americas Montserrat 200
Americas United States of America 197
Europe Switzerland 166
Europe Luxembourg 147
Europe Gibraltar 119
Europe Monaco 102
Europe Portugal 99
Americas Bermuda 96
Americas Canada 90
Europe Denmark 79
Europe Germany 78
Eastern Mediterranean Iran 73
Europe Austria 65
Americas Ecuador 60
Europe Slovenia 45
Americas Panama 44
Europe Estonia 39
Europe Finland 39
Europe North Macedonia 39
Europe Romania 39
Europe Turkey 39
Americas US Virgin Islands 38
Europe Norway 38
Europe Hungary 35
Western Pacific Northern Mariana Islands 35
Americas Peru 34
Americas British Virgin Islands 33
Americas Puerto Rico 33
Americas Antigua and Barbuda 31
Americas Brazil 30
Europe Republic of Moldova 30
Western Pacific Guam 30
Americas Dominican Republic 29
Europe Iceland 29
Americas Bahamas 28
Europe Serbia 27
Americas Turks and Caicos Islands 26
Europe Israel 26
Europe Liechtenstein 26
Americas Barbados 24
Europe Cyprus 23
Europe Czechia 22
Europe Bosnia and Herzegovina 21
Americas Aruba 19
Europe Croatia 18
Europe Lithuania 17
Europe Poland 17
Americas Cayman Islands 15
Americas Mexico 15
Europe Greece 13
Americas Chile 12
Americas Guyana 11
Eastern Mediterranean United Arab Emirates 11
Europe Albania 11
Europe Armenia 11
Europe Kosovo 11
Europe Montenegro 11
Africa Algeria 10
Europe Belarus 10
Europe Bulgaria 10
Europe Malta 9
Africa Mauritius 8
Americas Honduras 8
Europe Latvia 8
Europe Russian Federation 8
Eastern Mediterranean Kuwait 7
Americas Bolivia 6
Americas Colombia 6
Americas Cuba 6
Americas Curaçao 6
Americas Trinidad and Tobago 6
Europe Ukraine 6
Africa São Tomé, Príncipe 5
Americas Argentina 5
Americas Belize 5
Americas Uruguay 5
Eastern Mediterranean Bahrain 5
Eastern Mediterranean Morocco 5
Eastern Mediterranean Saudi Arabia 5
Western Pacific Philippines 5
Western Pacific Republic of Korea 5
Africa Cabo Verde 4
Africa Liberia 4
Eastern Mediterranean Egypt 4
Eastern Mediterranean Lebanon 4
Eastern Mediterranean Qatar 4
Europe Slovakia 4
Western Pacific Australia 4
Western Pacific Japan 4
Western Pacific New Zealand 4
Americas Jamaica 3
Eastern Mediterranean Tunisia 3
South-East Asia Indonesia 3
Western Pacific China 3
Western Pacific Malaysia 3
Western Pacific Singapore 3
Africa Burkina Faso 2
Africa Cameroon 2
Africa Congo 2
Africa Gabon 2
Africa South Africa 2
Americas El Salvador 2
Americas Suriname 2
Eastern Mediterranean Afghanistan 2
Eastern Mediterranean Djibouti 2
Eastern Mediterranean Iraq 2
Eastern Mediterranean Oman 2
Eastern Mediterranean Pakistan 2
Eastern Mediterranean Somalia 2
Europe Azerbaijan 2
Europe Georgia 2
South-East Asia Maldives 2
Western Pacific Brunei Darussalam 2
Africa Côte d’Ivoire 1
Africa Equatorial Guinea 1
Africa Eswatini 1
Africa Ghana 1
Africa Guinea 1
Africa Guinea-Bissau 1
Africa Mali 1
Africa Niger 1
Africa Senegal 1
Africa Sierra Leone 1
Africa Togo 1
Americas Costa Rica 1
Americas Guatemala 1
Americas Haiti 1
Americas Nicaragua 1
Americas Paraguay 1
Eastern Mediterranean Jordan 1
Eastern Mediterranean Palestine 1
Eastern Mediterranean Sudan 1
Europe Kazakhstan 1
Europe Kyrgyzstan 1
South-East Asia Bangladesh 1
South-East Asia India 1
South-East Asia Thailand 1
Africa Angola 0
Africa Benin 0
Africa Botswana 0
Africa Burundi 0
Africa Central African Republic 0
Africa Chad 0
Africa Democratic Republic Congo 0
Africa Eritrea 0
Africa Ethiopia 0
Africa Gambia 0
Africa Kenya 0
Africa Madagascar 0
Africa Malawi 0
Africa Mauritania 0
Africa Mozambique 0
Africa Namibia 0
Africa Nigeria 0
Africa Rwanda 0
Africa Seychelles 0
Africa South Sudan 0
Africa Tanzania 0
Africa Uganda 0
Africa Zambia 0
Africa Zimbabwe 0
Americas Anguilla 0
Americas Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, Saba 0
Americas Dominica 0
Americas Falkland Islands 0
Americas Grenada 0
Americas Saint Kitts and Nevis 0
Americas Saint Lucia 0
Americas Saint Vincent, Grenadines 0
Americas Venezuela 0
Eastern Mediterranean Libya 0
Eastern Mediterranean Syrian Arab Republic 0
Eastern Mediterranean Yemen 0
Europe Faroe Islands 0
Europe Greenland 0
Europe Holy See 0
Europe Uzbekistan 0
South-East Asia Bhutan 0
South-East Asia Myanmar 0
South-East Asia Nepal 0
South-East Asia Sri Lanka 0
South-East Asia Timor-Leste 0
Western Pacific Cambodia 0
Western Pacific Fiji 0
Western Pacific French Polynesia 0
Western Pacific Laos 0
Western Pacific Mongolia 0
Western Pacific New Caledonia 0
Western Pacific Papua New Guinea 0
Western Pacific Taiwan 0
Western Pacific Viet Nam 0

Source: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) – Situation Report Worldwide, 2 May 2020.